


surrounded by nothing (but the nothing's surrounded by us)

by acumirklis



Series: oneshots [4]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Car rides, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, No Angst, Phone Calls, Soft Karl, Soft Sapnap, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, enjoy haha, is there plot? idk, listen idk either karlnap is my comfort ship, so i needed this to happen don't judge me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28583022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acumirklis/pseuds/acumirklis
Summary: "I literally stayed up on the phone with Sapnap all night last night so he could drive to Dream's in 1 night without falling asleep just for him to fall asleep at a rest stop when it was 11am for me..."(or; Sapnap needs his boyfriend to keep him awake during a long car ride and they're soft)
Relationships: Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Series: oneshots [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2122416
Comments: 8
Kudos: 391





	surrounded by nothing (but the nothing's surrounded by us)

“You need me to do _what_ now?“, Karl asked, rubbing his face tiredly.

He heard Sapnap suck in a breath softly. “Can you stay on the call with me until I’m at Dream’s house?”

Karl’s eyes focused on the clock on his wall, squinting slightly due to his tiredness. “Isn’t it like, a 14-hour drive or something?”

“Well,” Sapnap started, and Karl could hear faint music playing on the other end of the line, “I’ve already been driving for a while, so no, you don’t have to be on call with me for this long.”

Karl feigned sighing in relief, Sapnap scoffed at that. “Thank God. So, where are you right now, anyway?”

Sapnap cleared his throat. “I just passed by Lafayette, so I guess it will be around eleven hours or so?”

Karl snorted. “Eleven hours? That’s still a very long time.”

He heard Sapnap sigh exasperatedly as Karl giggled. “You don’t have to do this; I was just asking.”

Karl cooed between the giggles. “Sappy wants to talk to me so badly?”

All he received as an answer was a _whatever_ that sounded suspiciously like it had been said with the biggest pout in existence.

Karl hummed, leaning back in his chair. It was nearing midnight, and in all honesty, no matter how tired he was, it was pretty tempting to talk to his boyfriend for this long. At least he could make sure he was safe that way, it really was a win-win situation.

“Perfect. So, is there anything specific you need me to do?”, Karl asked, standing up from his desk to go to his bed.

He made himself comfortable, wrapping his body in the warm blanket and turning off all the lights but the one on his nightstand. He sat up against his headboard, and sighed contently as he turned on the TV as a quiet background noise.

“Not really. I just need you to keep me awake, basically.”, his boyfriend replied, his tone gentle.

Karl nodded to himself, thinking of all the things he’d have to do to fill those eleven hours. If he was being honest with himself, he could easily just talk through the entire night if it came down to it.

“Tell me about your day.”, Sapnap spoke up after a while, his voice blending in with the distant sound of honking cars.

Karl chuckled giddily. “Well, when I woke up, I kind of made a mess in the kitchen because I spilled water all across the counter. Then, I got mad at myself for that, since it was dumb, so I was kind of in a bad mood until you texted me. Everything went to shit after my delivery had been lacking a couple of things. Seriously; how did they forget my sauce when I _explicitly_ asked for it, I probably mentioned it more than once! And don’t even get me _started_ on my PC deciding to die on me after I had finished the driest meal I’ve had in months-“

Sapnap listened, contently. It was a great distraction, really; Karl’s excited storytelling was a wonderful thing to listen to, and even if Sapnap tried, he’d not be able to fall asleep, not when he was so invested in his boyfriend’s daily dilemmas.

“-and in the end, I hung up on Quackity because really, how dare he, right? Right?”, Karl asked dramatically, pretending to twirl an invisible phone chord around his index finger.

Sapnap laughed loudly. “Yeah, it was on him, honestly. Did he say anything after that?”

Karl groaned. “Of course, he literally told me to fuck off. I hope he also spills his water all over his counter, seriously.”

Sapnap acted surprised. “Oh, are you guys beefing now? Can we use this conflict for clout?”

Karl snorted. “He’ll be crawling back to me in no time; there’s no need for that.”

“Fair enough.”

“But how was your day?”, Karl asked, a soft yawn escaping his mouth. “Are you nervous?”

Sapnap chuckled a little too loudly. “Nervous? Why would I be nervous?”

Karl furrowed his brows. “Because you’re meeting your childhood best friend for the first time? Duh?”

Sapnap acted like he was relaxed, which was so clearly fake. “I am not nervous to meet Dream. I have no reason to be.”

Karl tilted his head lightly as he removed his phone from his ear, looking at his boyfriend’s adorable face on the contact picture. “It’s okay to be a bit worried before meeting someone you haven’t seen in person yet, you know? You guys have known each other for so long; but being faced to face is still a big deal, so it’s only natural to be a bit anxious.”

Sapnap sighed. “I guess so. I don’t know, man, I’m just worried it will be awkward?”

Karl hummed in agreement. “That’s understandable. I was also worried about that before meeting up with Quackity. Initial awkwardness is fine, it will go away, especially for you and Dream. I mean, c’mon; I’m sure you guys will fall into your natural rhythm easily. It’s actually not that hard.”

There was definitely a smile when Sapnap spoke next. “Thank you, babe. I’ll keep that in mind. If it all goes to shit, I’ll just tackle him to the ground.”

Karl blushed slightly and laughed quietly. “Isn’t he like, so much taller than you?”

Sapnap inhaled sharply, but Karl didn’t fail to pick up on that small hint of an airy chuckle. “And? I am stronger than him, I bet. What does he do all day? Piss the bed? At least I lift weights.”

Karl raised an eyebrow. “Weights as in your cat?”

“Shut up.”, Sapnap stammered, and Karl kept giggling until the other just let him have it.

Karl’s tone was soft and reassuring. “You’ll be fine, Nick, don’t worry about it. Dream is way too good at being a social butterfly, he’ll do the job for the both of you.”

“You’re probably right. But anyway, I don’t want to think about that for now.”, he said, Karl could already hear the hint of tiredness in his voice.

They’d been on call for a solid three hours now, and Karl worried that Sapnap was starting to be less focused. He could talk all he wanted; but in the end, he needed to keep Sapnap awake, not entertained.

“How about we sing?”, Karl suggested, already pulling up his Spotify to search for a song he deemed good enough to be used as a weapon to wake his boyfriend up thoroughly.

Sapnap barked out a laugh. “Absolutely. You pick the first song.”

And so; Karl did.

They both started singing loudly as soon as the song as much as played its first chord, it made them laugh for way too long, and they ended up starting the song anew. Sapnap was playing it on the speakers in his car, and Karl had his phone on maximum volume. The screeching did not stop; but at least they actually sang the lyrics, now. Sapnap sang the woman’s part, obnoxiously high-pitched, and Karl took on the role of the dude, singing much lower than his voice could handle. In the end, the song ended with both of their throats sore, and a fit of giggles from both parties.

Karl loved moments like those; even with the thousands of miles between them, they always found a way to connect with each other. Be it play video games together, face time at any given moment of the day, sleep and wake up on call or go on hour long car rides just to act as if they were next to each other, singing so loudly their ears would ring.

God, Karl had fallen so deeply for Sapnap, it was ridiculous. The adorable Texan guy with his shy smiles and soft words had taken hold of Karl’s poor heart and he refused to let go; Karl didn’t want him to.

Their dynamic was so easy; Karl had the feeling that no matter where or how, Sapnap and him would still be their own best version, as long as they were with the other.

Sometimes, when they’d be on a call for the nth time of the day, Sapnap would say something especially sweet that would make Karl’s heart soar, and his fingers twitch to reach out and grab Sapnap’s hand in his, to hold it so gently and caress the soft skin, drawing all kinds of meaningless things with his thumb. But Sapnap’s hand was not there, and without fail, the tiny feeling of coldness would brush past the palm of Karl’s hand, allowing for a small part of his heart to ache quietly, desiring nothing more than to have the boy right there with him, by his side. Karl loved to drown in his reveries.

Falling for him had been so easy; Karl had already forgotten when he first felt the softly buzzing feeling overtaking all of his senses and making his heart beat just a tad bit faster. It didn’t matter; what was important was the fact that he still felt the same feeling every day, and he felt it grow. It was Karl’s favourite thing in the world.

“You’re probably the worst singer I’ve ever encountered.”, Karl said after they had finished their third song, and Sapnap sniffled.

“I am so hurt, Jacobs; my very own lover does not appreciate my efforts, does not recognize my talents.”

Karl cooed. “It’s okay, baby, you have many other talents.”

“Like making you flustered?”, Sapnap suggested.

“Among others.”, Karl replied begrudgingly.

Sapnap let out a content noise; Karl savoured every second of it.

But really, it was incredibly hard to try and hide the blush whenever Sapnap would literally as much as _breathe_ in the general direction of his microphone. It was so obvious to anyone who cared enough to take a second glance at them. Karl knew that people thought them to be cute, they didn’t exactly try to hide their affections; and yet, they still hadn’t come out to the public, their relationship was still private, it was still a secret.

It was a relatively new thing; it had only been a few months, but Karl thought that it might as well have been a couple of years; Sapnap made it so easy to feel like he’d known him for much longer than he actually did.

Their friends knew, and so did their families; Karl wanted to shout it from all the rooftops of North Carolina, trying to make his voice echo all the way to Texas. And maybe all across the world, while he was at it.

Sapnap yawned, and Karl automatically did the same. “Where are you right now?”

Sapnap took a second to check his GPS. “I’m in the general area of the Gulf Hills. I think I’ve got the worst part behind me, at this point.”

Karl cheered for him. “That’s great. How about you rest for a little?”

“Good idea.”, Sapnap said with a thankful tone, promising Karl to stay at the next rest stop.

And he did; Karl practically forced him to get something small to eat, since the other hadn’t had anything since dinner, and they sat there for a few minutes, Karl rambling about one of the upcoming video ideas for the Mr. Beast channel while Sapnap ate his sandwich gratefully.

The rest of the journey was fairly uneventful; aside from a few heated discussions and Sapnap describing what he saw on the road to Karl, there was nothing much going on. Karl was starting to feel the exhaustion in his limbs, he couldn’t even imagine how tired Sapnap must have been; he worried that the fatigue was going to get to the other’s head.

No matter how tired Karl was; he had a duty to fulfil, and he’d be damned if he fell asleep on Sapnap while the other was driving.

“I’ll go get an energy drink, I think I’m slowly starting to clock out.”, Karl said after a while of comfortable silence, nothing but Sapnap’s soft humming filling out his room after he had long turned off the TV.

“Yeah, don’t drink too much, though. It’s not good for you.”

Karl rolled his eyes. “Duh.”

Sapnap snickered. “You’re an idiot.”

“Your idiot.”, Karl said smugly.

“Mine.”, came the tired but delighted reply.

So, the journey continued. Karl took on the role as the main talker, and he made sure to keep Sapnap occupied, trying his best to make the other feel awake and focused. Thankfully, the roads were pretty much void of any cars, since no one was going anywhere at the moment. At some point, he even had Sapnap do basic math (the other did not appreciate it very much, but it did the job.)

As tired as Karl was, he still believed that he’d much rather have done this than just sleep the night away.

It was nearing 11 am, Karl was on his fifth energy drink and Sapnap on his last string of sanity.

“I think I’ll stop at this rest stop,” Sapnap muttered tiredly, Karl making a noise of agreement, “I don’t want to crash my car, which I will if I don’t get to breathe fresh air right this instant.”

“That’s good thinking, very good.”, Karl said absentmindedly, pulling his sheets up all the way until it covered his nose, and dragging his legs toward his upper body. He was still seated; he’d pass out immediately if he lied down. His ass was starting to feel sore, even with the regular walks around his room.

Sapnap yawned loudly and Karl could hear him stretch his limbs due to the obnoxious cracking of his bones. “Dream better treat me like a king once I arrive; I didn’t go through all this shit just for him to be a bitch.”

Karl nodded. “I agree. You better get to sleep in the fluffiest bed he has.”

“I better.”, Sapnap said, and they settled in another comfortable silence, Sapnap breathing softly and Karl blinking at his window, the rays of sunshine mocking the dark circles under his eyes.

Karl didn’t know how much time had passed; but he blinked, and realized that when he called his boyfriend’s name, the other did not reply.

He frowned. “Sapnap?”

No answer.

Karl checked his clock; it was half past 11 am, and he had the sneaking suspicion that the other had fallen asleep on him, in the end.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”, he breathed out in frustration before repeating the younger’s name again.

There was one big, ridiculous issue; if Sapnap fell asleep, _he fell deep._ One time, he told Karl that he’d slept through one of the worst storms his area had seen, and even his own family had looked at him in horror and disbelief. In all honesty, Karl admired his boyfriend’s ability to sleep through literally the end of the world.

Which, unfortunately, also meant that the chances of him managing to wake the other up were pretty slim; the loud snore shaking his phone spoke for itself.

Karl sighed, and as he looked at the clock, he decided that it was best for the other to take a nap, he still had around three hours to drive, and it was not a good idea to let him drive when he was obviously struggling to keep his eyes open.

So, Karl put his phone on the maximum volume again, placing it on the pillow next to his head, as he lied down contently, wiggling a little so his sore limbs would feel a bit lighter.

Sapnap’s naps usually didn’t take that long; and Karl was a fairly light sleeper. They’d figure it out.

“Karl?”

The man in question opened his eyes, blinking in confusion at the headache that was currently taking over his mind. “Mhm?”

Sapnap chuckled adorably. “Aww baby, did I wake you up?”

Karl tried not to sigh contently at the softness of his boyfriend’s tone. “M’yeah. Wait-“

He shot up in his bed, wincing in regret at the sharp pain that slammed into him as his body caught up to his mind.

“You’re driving already?!”, Karl stuttered, words dripping with worry.

Sapnap laughed. “Yeah, but don’t worry; I had a great nap, I’m actually pretty rested right now. So, technically you don’t even have to be on call with me anymore.”

Karl huffed before hanging up, just to face-time Sapnap a few seconds later.

The other picked up the phone, eyes already crinkled in the corners from how widely he was grinning. “Hey baby!”

Karl pouted. “You expect me, after all of this, to just hang up on you like that? I am hurt, Sap, so hurt.”

Sapnap tilted his head as he beamed even more widely (somehow), eyes sternly on the road. “Honestly? No, I know you too well to assume that. The good news is that you’ve been out for like an hour longer than me; I’m pretty much at Dream’s place in less than two hours.”

Karl smiled at that, loving the way his boyfriend’s eyes were shining with so much anticipation, excitement and delight.

“Did Dream call already?”, Karl asked, moving out of his bed to go and make himself some breakfast, since the energy drinks were certainly not an adequate sustenance.

Sapnap hummed. “He did, and he said that Patches is already running around excitedly, I bet she can’t wait to meet me.”

Karl nodded. “She’ll probably leave Dream for you, honestly. I mean, who wouldn’t?”

Sapnap smiled mockingly. “Oh? So, you’d also leave Dream for me, Jacobs?”

Karl groaned. “Shut up, Sapnap, you know what I mean.”

“I really don’t, you have to tell me.”, there was nothing but pure mirth in his eyes.

“There is no weight to that statement; I’m sleep deprived and I want to cuddle with you, that’s all I know.”

So, what if there was a small blush on Sapnap’s cheeks? Neither commented on it, but Karl made sure to take a screenshot for good measure.

“I love you.”, Sapnap said after a while, his expression so relaxed and happy, Karl’s poor heart couldn’t take it.

“I love you too, nimrod.”, he replied, savouring the brilliant smile he got in return.

They kept chit-chatting for the remaining few hours Sapnap had before finally reaching his destination, and the closer he got, the giddier the both of them became.

Sapnap entertained Karl with countless of embarrassing stories about what he and Dream used to be up to as kids, and Karl made sure to remember every single one of them so he could tease Dream about it later.

“Thank you for staying awake with me.”, his boyfriend said a few minutes before arriving at Dream’s house, and Karl replied with gross kissing noises that Sapnap pretended not to melt at.

They hung up after Sapnap exited his car, Karl staring at his phone with a warm feeling in his chest. He hoped that those two would have an amazing time together.

The call came around four hours later, and Karl picked up on the second ring.

“Hello?”

Sapnap’s excited voice answered right away. “Hey babe! Guess who’s with me?”

Karl smiled. “I sure hope it’s Patches.”

Sapnap breathed in dramatically. “You got it! I swear to you, Karl, she loves me so much. I’m her favourite.”

 _You’re not her favourite_ Karl could hear Dream say in the background.

“You surely are. Say hi to Dream for me!”

Sapnap’s grin was evident when he spoke next. “Will do! Dream took such a cute picture of me and Patches, I think I’ll upload it on Twitter.”

Karl made a happy jump. “Do it! I need more pictures in my Sapnap folder.”

 _I’ve got so many for you, just so you wait, Karl_ Dream yelled in the background and Karl could hear Sapnap slapping his arm. “Shut up and don’t you dare send him anything, I have a reputation to uphold.”

But Dream had already sent him five pictures, Karl made a mental note to look at each of them for a few seconds consecutively after they were done talking.

“Anyways, ignore the idiot. I just wanted to say goodnight; I’m heading to bed now, honestly I’m so exhausted, man.”, Sapnap said as he yawned just on cue.

Karl hummed in agreement. “You really should. Call me when you wake up?”

Sapnap chuckled. “Of course, baby. Thank you again for bearing with me.”

“For you? Any day.”, Karl replied, which earned him a soft but flustered sound from his boyfriend.

“God, I wish I could give hugs and kisses to you right now.”, Sapnap said, something in his tone was filled with so much longing Karl immediately felt the same sensation settle in his heart.

“Me, too.”, he uttered, looking sadly at his computer screen.

 _You can hug and kiss me_ Dream suggested so openly it got them both chuckling, before Sapnap rejected him with the mere words _No, you’re not Karl_

“I hope we’re gonna do this again, someday.”, Sapnap said, and Karl giggled.

“Yeah, but this time you should be heading north!”, he said, and he could hear both Sapnap and Dream agree aggressively.

“I’d be damned if I didn’t.”, Sapnap stated, and Karl hoped he meant every word of it.

In the end, they talked until Sapnap fell asleep, and the last thing Karl said to him before he fell asleep as well, was also the thing he dreamt of the very same night.

“Well, I know what state you’re driving to, next!”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! this was just for my own entertainment lmfao, i am sorry <3 i have never really written fluff so this is still new to me, but a person's gotta learn haha  
> have a great day, take care!!
> 
> (in case anyone's confused; karl tweeted this on the 4th of january, on his alt twt @honkkarl)  
> (title from the song 17 by Youth Lagoon)


End file.
